Oh, the games they play. A little media exposure, sound bites and a formal public relations campaign can have the masses of African-Americans believing just about anything. Why do they do it? To keep business as usual or to make some quick money at the expense of those who can least afford it. Let’s look at some of the games.
Home Ownership:
We were hit relentlessly that times were getting better for Blacks as homeownership was significantly rising. Both the Clinton and Bush administrations harped on this like a "mantra". What we didn’t know was that we were being led down a path of predatory lending. It was a trap that was going to snare us big time. In fact, not only was it a game it was program that was going to set us back economically for an entire generation. The jive is up and our neighborhoods are racked with vacancies, abandonment and deprivation. It is going to take us a good decade to make up for the losses.
Minority Business Participation:
I can write a book on this one. For the sake of space, let’s focus in on the US Auto Industry that gave a pledge back in the 1990’s to do over $1 billion dollars each (annually) with Black owned firms. They didn’t get near that but what they did was a scheme. They would help set up front companies to charade that they were big business tycoons doing serious business with the Big 3 (Chrysler, General Motors and Ford). Oh yes, they would have these guys on the covers of magazines. They would go around the nation and make speeches and receive awards for their accomplishments. There was a high concentration on this in the trucking and steel industries. There would be an established white owned company doing the work but they would simply put some "Black skin" on some of the operations and shout the praises. I did a test one time with a major firm looking for a bona fide minority own trucking company. I had the procurement guy do a background check on some of these celebrated "Black" trucking companies. His report back to me was no surprise. Every one of them was either a broker or a rouse. "When you find a real trucking firm that is Black own send them to me", he concluded. There was also the "Black" steel company in Northern Indiana. I took a surprise visit to it and found an empty building void of any activity yet one of the Big 3 listed it as a thriving enterprise they were doing business with.
Then there are the celebrities that have suddenly become big entrepreneurs. They are all over the place owning this and that and doing everything at once. Basically, they are just renting their names for some shrewd white manipulator making the big bucks off of Black folk’s false perceptions. We need to cut the games.
Construction Unions:
After forty-five years of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, construction unions are as discriminatory now as they were then. They have ridden off the good name of other unions who have done the right thing and opened their doors. They used this fact as a cover for their Jim Crow ways. For the most part, too many of our elected officials and leaders have fallen for this dupe. You will see some of our people support Project Labor Agreements (union only construction projects) even though 98% of Black construction workers and construction companies are not in the unions. It is "Economic Apartheid" to quote Philadelphia Mayor Nutter but yet too many of our officials support it through their ignorance. It is time to wake up to this shame.
Digital Television Transition:
There has been a big scare about ending the television transmission on analog television sets. Who do you know that has an old analog television with rabbit ears on top? They have been long gone. Just look around but yet they have us thinking that a lot of us still have them. Why? They put up a billion dollars in advertising and outreach money to address the "issue". It is all about hustling up some new money. Even the former Federal Communication Commission Chairman Kevin Martin spent $300,000 of tax money placing an ad on his favorite NASCAR vehicle. The car crashed within minutes – what a waste! This whole thing was contrived by greedy K Street Washington Lobbyists and public relations firms. They used us to get the money allocated.
In sum, I guess we need to call out all of these shams and hustles. No longer can we just shake our heads and let them get away with the lies. Perhaps we ought to form a Truth Commission and verify and control the amount of propaganda we receive.
